Soldier Arrested As Deserter

FLORIDA - The State - In Brief

May 6, 2005

WELLINGTON -- An Army sergeant who left his Georgia post six months ago was tracked down at his parents' home after a notebook with anti-American and anti-Semitic writings was found in his discarded backpack.

Karim Iraq, 25, was arrested as a deserter and is being held without bail at the Palm Beach County Jail, sheriff's officials said.

His father said the soldier fled Fort Stewart after the Army extended his enlistment because he had soured on the U.S. military mission in Iraq. The father said the soldier also was harassed about his Palestinian heritage.

"He was feeling rejected or discriminated against for the last year or so . . . He said he'd been made fun of all the time. He never fit in," Zayed Iraq said.